Photographer s background-holder



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. I. SCANDLIN. PHOTOGRAPHERS BACKGROUND HOLDER. No. 484,165.

Patented Oct. 11, 1892.

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PHOTOGRA-PHERS BACKGROUND HOLDER.

No. 484,165. Patented Oct. 11, 1892.

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\VILLIAM I. SOANDLIN, OF BROOKLYN, NEWV YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHERS BACKGROUND-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 484,165, dated October 11, 1892.

Application filed April 21, 1892. Serial No. 430,005. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM I. SCANDLIN, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Photographers Background-Holders, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in holders for photographers backgroundscreens; and it consists in the mechanical construction and arrangement of the parts whereby a plurality of screens may be immediately accessible for use and whereby, also, the screens may be adjusted at such elevation as preferred to secure the desired light effects, and the device has connected with it a rack for retention of additional screens. The screens themselves are arranged upon rollers, whereby they may be readily extended or rolled up after the manner of an ordinary window-shade.

In the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a side elevation of the device. Fig. 2 illustrates an end View taken from the right of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 illustrates an end view taken from the right of Fig. 1 on the line at at. Fig. at illustrates a detail of the roller-confining latch. Fig. 5 illustrates a modification of the devices for elevating the frame.

A is a base, which may be made of plank or metal, as preferred.

B are large casters or rollers fastened to the base, whereby the entire apparatus may be readily moved about.

0 C are two hollow standards, preferably of metal, fastened at the ends of the base.

D D are racks provided with recesses E E, adapted to contain the rollers which are not in use upon the'frame. These racks are supported upon the standards 0 O by being bolted or fastened at the top and bottom, as at F.

G G are two rods adapted to slide vertically within the standard 0.

H H are rods or heavy wires fastened at' their upper ends to a squared portion I I on the top of the rods G G. They extend downwardly, passing through eyes J J, and at their ends they are enlarged at K K, so that the rods cannot move upwardly through the eyes J, but will be stopped by the enlarged ends K, in this manner preventing ,too great upward N, in which are holes 0 O, in which catches the point of a spring-pawl P, which has a laterallyextending terminalQ. This pawl is actuated by a spring R, which 'normally throws the point of the pawlinto one of the holes or recesses 0, thus locking the rotary frame. The frame, as shown,is composed of four arms. There may be more or lessof these arms, and in the arms at one end of the machine holes are made, as at S S, (see Fig. 2,) adapted to receive the spindle at one end of each of the spring-actuated rollers about to be described. At the other end of the machine the arms are provided with squared slots T, (see Fig. 4,) adjacent to which there is pivoted a springcontrolled latch U, V being the spring. It will be noticed that the squared recesses T are adapted toreceive thesquared ends of the spindles upon which the spring of the ordinary shade-rolleris arranged, so as to effect a'wiuding up of the spring upon drawing down the shade or screen. W W (see Fig. 1) are the spring-rollers upon which the screens are arranged in the same manner that ordinary window-shades are. These rollers are not shown'in detail, because they are too well known to require explanation. They are or may be the same in all respects as the well-known Hartshorn shade-roller, excepting that they are much larger in my device as ordinarily constructed, being ordinarily from ten to twenty feet in length, although smaller ones are sometimes made, and the screen or background scenery is or may be attached to these rollers inthe same way that ordinary shades are of the Hartshorn make.

a a are two brackets extending rearwardly from each of the uprights O.

b is a shaft that extends from one to the other of these brackets, being journaled in them and of course extending entirely across the rear of the machine. One end of this rod or shaft 1) is squared and a crank c is at tached to it, and upon this rod are arranged two slightly-concave pulleys d d, and adjacent to one of them or at least in some suitable place is arranged a ratchet e, which of course is keyed to the shaft 19.

fis a pawl, in this-case actuated by gravity, which engageswith the ratchet g g are two cords, cables, or chains, which are fastened, respectively, to the peripheries of the grooved pulleys d d, and passing inwardly around relatively-small rollers h h and passing thence downwardly inside of the standards O and are attached, as at h h, to the Vertically-sliding rods G G, so that when the crank c is turned, consequently revolving'the grooved pulleys d d, the chain or cord or whatever may be employed is wound up upon the pulleys and the rotary frame L L, carrying the four rollers W W, &c., is elevated until the heads K of the rods or wires H H strike against the eyes J J and prevent further upward movement.

, It will be observed that the movable frame The racks D D are designed to hold other rollerscontainingor supporting screens,which can be interchangeable with those which are placed in the revolving frame, and in order to prevent them from moving endwise and falling out from the racks, I provide guardplates 7; 1', against which the ends of the rollers will be stopped should they attempt to move endwise, owing to the jar of the apparatus as it is moved about the floor.

In Fig.5 I show an alternative construction of the parts which elevate the rotary frame. The longitudinally-extending shaft 1) and the crank c, the vertical uprights O, and the brackets a are or may be the same as in the other case; but instead of having grooved wheels I) b and cords, chains, or cables g I have two pinions j, one at each end of the shaft 1), which work through slots 7c, one of them being made at the upper end of each of the uprights and engage with a rack Z, which is made upon the appropriate surface of the vertical rods G. All the other parts may be the same as already described.

The operation is as follows: The photographer desiring to employ for his proposed pic'- ture an artificial background, rolls my apparatus into such position as desired and then selects from the frame such of the rollers bearing screens as are desired and places them in the revolving frame. He then elevates the frame to the point desired by turning the crank and pulls down the special screen which he desires, rotating the screencarrying frame L to bring the proper one forwardly by manipulating the pawl O Q, as may be necessary. The screen or background acts in all respects as an ordinary windowshade of the Hartshorn form, and he can then take his picture. I make the frame L rotatable because it is very convenient to have a number of screens in position to be immediately used, thus avoiding the necessity for adjusting rollers into rotary frames from the rack holding them. I wish it to beunderstood, however, that I do not limit myself to this constructionone roller only may be used if desired.

Having described my invention, I claim 1. The combination of uprights, a vertically-movable frame supported upon them, revoluble supports for the rollers, having their axes in said movable frame, and means to elevate the said frame, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of uprights, a vertically-movable frame supported upon then1,revoluble supports for the rollers, having their axes in said movable frame, means to elevate the said frame, and means to lock the said revolving frame, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of uprights, a vertical-- ly-movable frame supported upon them, revoluble supports for the rollers, having their axes in said movable frame, means to elevate the said frame, means to lock said revolving frame, and spring actuated screen rollers adapted to be supported upon the revolving frame, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of uprights, verticallymovable frames supported upon them, revolving supports or arms, one set upon each end of the vertically-movable frame and having, respectively, bearings'for a Hartshorn or similar roller, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of uprights, verticallymovable frames supported upon them, revolving supports or arms, one set upon each end of the vertically-movable frame, having, respectively, bearings for a Hartshorn or similar roller, and means to lock the said revolving frame, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a base placed upon rollers or wheels, two uprights attached to the base, a rack supported by the uprights,avertically-movable frame supported upon the uprights, rotatable devices for holding the screens, attached to the vertically-movable frame, and means to elevate the movable frame, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination of a base placed upon rollers or wheels, two uprights attached to the base, a rack supported by the uprights, avertically-movable frame supported upon the uprights, rotatable devices for holding the screens, attached to the verticallymovable frame, means to elevate the movable frame, and means to lock the'rotatable frame, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 18th day of April, A. D. 1892.

WILLIAM I. SOANDLIN.

Witnesses:

PHILLIPS ABBOTT, J. E. HOFFMAN.

IIO 

